Deutsche to cut up to 500 jobs

LONDON, Feb 19 (IFR) - Deutsche Bank is to cut up to 500 investment banking jobs with 250 initially earmarked to go, according to a person close to the situation.

Earlier this month IFR reported that the institution had started to make “selective” cuts in the UK, identifying Jonathan Gold, co-head of financial institutions origination for Europe, Middle East and Africa, as being at risk of redundancy.

On Monday a report by Bloomberg named other individuals: Marc Benton, head of European energy investment banking; Evans Haji-Touma, who advised sovereign wealth and public pension funds; and Andrew Tusa, co-head of UK corporate broking.

The person confirmed that these names were also at risk. The three people couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

There have also been cuts outside Europe. Last week IFR reported that Paul Saltzman, US head of global transaction banking, was to leave the bank in March. And on February 6 Deutsche confirmed that Mohamed Atmani, head of financial sponsors for Asia-Pacific, would leave the bank.

Other cuts are expected in Deutsche’s debt capital markets business in Birmingham.

The moves come after Deutsche reported that revenues in its investment bank fell 15% to €14.23bn last year but compensation and benefits rose 8% to €4.26bn, despite a pledge by chief executive John Cryan not to pay bonuses last year.

He has since reversed that policy, putting pressure on the bank to find other ways of cutting costs. Deutsche will inform staff of any bonus awards next month, at the same time as it issues its annual report on March 16.

At the end of December the corporate and investment bank had 41,349 staff, or 1,700 more than a year earlier. Some 17,251 of them were costly front-office staff, up 122 during the year. (Reporting by Christopher Spink)